People aren’t either/or, they’re and,and,and.

-Maya Angelou

My name is Barbara Uechi. I live on the west side of the Big Island of Hawaii, making art with mixed media.

I attribute the quote above to Maya Angelou, from a magazine interview I read decades ago. It’s been my one soothing mantra, the spiritual salve for a life spent chasing after my curious mind. Lessons in Balance is a collection of captions I’m writing to explain the scenes from my life, many of which appear in the art pieces that I make.

There are memories of my childhood and memories told to me by other people that I’m eager to visually create. I’m primarily working with collage these days; cutting, pasting, and learning new methods of manipulating paper. I expect the contents of this page to change often, as I discover new materials and techniques; the growing and, and, and.

Thank you for reading and returning. Often, I hope.

-February 17, 2024